Weed science students take top honors at annual meeting

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Four graduate students, including one faculty member, and two undergraduate students from the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture earned top honors at the North Central Weed Science Society 2015 Annual Meeting held Dec. 7–10 in Indianapolis.

Assistant Professor Cody Creech received the 2015 NCWSS Outstanding Graduate Student award. Creech is currently a Dryland Cropping Systems Specialist at the UNL Panhandle Research and Extension Center. Creech received his doctorate degree in Agronomy with a specialization in weed science in May 2015.

Thomas Butts took first place in the Equipment and Application Methods graduate student poster competition. His poster was titled “Wide Range of Droplet Size Distributions from Non-Venturi Nozzles.” Butts is currently a Ph.D. student studying pulse-width modulation spray application systems under Assistant Professor Greg Kruger, a Cropping Systems Specialist at the UNL West Central Research and Extension Center.

Ethann Barnes earned first place and Debalin Sarangi took second in the Agronomic Crops graduate student poster competition. Barnes is an agronomy graduate student specializing in weed science. His poster was titled “Control of Glyphosate-Resistant Common Ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.) in Glufosinate-Resistant Soybean.” Sarangi is a Ph.D. student also specializing in weed science. Sarangi's poster title was “Season-Long Control of Glyphosate-Resistant Common Waterhemp as Influenced by Split-Applications of Very Long Chain Fatty Acid Synthesis Inhibitors in Soybean.” Both are working under Assistant Professor Amit Jhala.

Rodrigo Werle won first place in the Weed Biology, Ecology, and Management graduate student paper contest. His paper was titled “Modeling Shattercane Population Dynamics in a Herbicide-Tolerant Sorghum Cropping System,” Rodrigo Werle, Brigitte Tenhumberg and John L. Lindquist. Werle is currently working under Professor Lindquist and will join the department faculty in April as a Cropping Systems Specialist at the UNL West Central Research and Extension Center.

Freshman agronomy majors Milos Zaric and Andjela Obradovic, took first and second, respectively, in the undergraduate poster competition. Both students are advised by Kruger.